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services The Secret To NamePros Success – A Community Admin’s Perspective

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Most of you already know who I am, however, some of you may not. With that said, let me introduce myself: my name is Eric Lyon. Not only am I the founder and co-owner of Scorpion Agency™ (Since 2005), I am also the community administrator for NamePros™. I started using NamePros in 2009 and joined the upper ranks as a moderator/administrator capacity in 2010. I’ve attended numerous industry-related events and personally worked with registrars, hosting companies, registries, news outlets, and a variety of domain investors. That equates to a lot of years behind the scenes with my fingers firmly on the pulse of the domain industry, implementing community management strategies, combating spam and unethical practices, and working shoulder-to-shoulder with members and moderators as a customer support specialist.
Now that you know about my industry experience, you can understand why I don’t take it lightly when I say NamePros is the leading community in the domain industry for investors to discuss and collaborate with one another. Don’t believe me? Here’s why I am proud to be part of the all-star NamePros team:
When it comes to learning, collaborating, and conducting business in the domain industry, it’s best to start your adventure where everyone is working towards common goals. Targeted social interaction are the most effective if you engage colleagues and like-minded individuals with the same inner-drive and passion for success in your respective industry...
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The views expressed on this page by users and staff are their own, not those of NamePros.
I checked out Eric's blog a while back, very impressive (y)(y)(y)
 
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Thanks for all your contributions Eric. I enjoyed watching your interview on whizz.

Best regards,
David
 
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Great article! I joined NP in 2006 when I was just starting out domaining. I must have read every post on every thread. Checking in with NP is my go-to first thing in the morning (and throughout the day)! The admin and mods do an incredible job of keeping this an informative and respectful forum. Kudos all around!
 
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So it's not symbolics but nordu ... ahh there they go re-writing history again!

Subscribed.
 
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Awesome stuff @Eric Lyon

Now if you could only convince the rest of the Namepro's staff to wear cool hats, like yours... I reckon you should make that a non-negotiable for Namescon2018 :)

Then the commnuity votes on which of you had the coolest hat..

The winner gets to select a charity of their choice and then namepro members can make a contribution towards the charity.. let say a $5 contribution for those that are able to or would like too contribute. Then we can see how much the Nampros community can raise for a good cause...
 
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@Eric Lyon

Questions...

When you became a moderator were you blown away at all it takes to run the forum?

What unique skills did you bring to the NP team?

What do you personally predict about aftermarket domain sales over the rest of this year?


Thanks,
David
 
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This was a great read thanks!
 
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Strong team and strong community! I love it! (y)
 
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@Eric Lyon

Questions...

When you became a moderator were you blown away at all it takes to run the forum?

What unique skills did you bring to the NP team?

What do you personally predict about aftermarket domain sales over the rest of this year?


Thanks,
David
Great questions!

My first big management job was back in 1996, where I managed 240+ employees at strata telecom and telenet international in Las Vegas, nv. I wrote a little about that in a previous article. I would like to think the knowledge and experience I gained from it helped provide a foundation to start building off of with NamePros.

In 2009 when I joined NamePros I already had forum moderation/administration experience managing a few small forum projects of my own (long gone now) using platforms such as, but not limited to simple machines, VB, and numerous Joomla forum addons.

Managing a small design and brand management agency (since 2005) also gave me an advantage in the creative marketing, public relations, and customer support sectors.

In 2011 to 2013, my minimal hands on experience with basic html/css came in handy assisting with a few backend tweaks. Now days we have an outstanding tech Admin that handles all that. His skill sets surpass most code experts I've ever seen. Paul is a true asset to the team and keeps everything on the technical side running smoothly.

As for the domain aftermarket, no matter how much you read about ntlds being dead or veterans pushing for .com being the only logical option, ntlds are now part of the overall industry landscape and aren't going anywhere.

As we've learned throughout history, everything eventually changes. For our industry, the new change is a shift towards more keyword focused digital assets, giving people and businesses more options to brand on.

One might even draw the conclusion that the flood of ntlds was an aggressive attempt by icann and registries to put more power in the hands of the consumer so they weren't forced to pay 6 digits for a domain owned by a reseller.

There's a tug of war going on right now, but eventually (inevitably) ntlds will come out of all this as the new norm. There's a while to go still, but it will happen. If you frequent any of the ntld in the wild sighting posts on NamePros or 3rd party blogs, it's evident they are starting to go more mainstream.
 
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Eric,

To me, your openness, honesty, kindness and patience are exemplory. I live in a fast paced expensive town where people are always on the move.

One of the things I love doing is looking into the minds window of others.

I feel I know you.

Thanks for sharing. You set a great example time and time again.
 
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namepros is successful now, but sometimes.... success for one, can come from the demise of another.

when i joined NP in 2003, it was just a new "free" alternative to something else that now had a cost

and for years and even now, some may still call it "the kiddie forum"

but it has grown for sure, not just in years, but there are elements of maturity in the staff and membership, which has helped to temper the "noise".

i just hope it continues to proceed along that path.

nice post Eric!


imo...
 
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Added note: Just to clear the air from a misconception I get asked about a lot at events/conferences and via email (are you a biker?), I want to give you a little back history.

While I did own a Honda rebel motorcycle and I do wear a leather vest, I have never been a member of a (MC) motorcycle club.

I've always been a nomad, traveling cross-country on adventures. I adopted my first vest in 2002/2003 driving tractor trailers (18 wheelers) coast to coast. Not everyone that wears a vest is part of an MC.

I've owned several vests since then and it's about time for a new one. I mainly wear it when I travel and show off pins from different places I've been with my wife these days.

I think I might design a brand patch for the next vest I get to increase brand exposure since I'm already a walking advertisement everywhere I go. I get all kinds of different reactions. Lol
 
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Added note: Just to clear the air from a misconception I get asked about a lot at events/conferences and via email (are you a biker?), I want to give you a little back history.

While I did own a Honda rebel motorcycle and I do wear a leather vest, I have never been a member of a (MC) motorcycle club.

I've always been a nomad, traveling cross-country on adventures. I adopted my first vest in 2002/2003 driving tractor trailers (18 wheelers) coast to coast. Not everyone that wears a vest is part of an MC.

I've owned several vests since then and it's about time for a new one. I mainly wear it when I travel and show off pins from different places I've been with my wife these days.

I think I might design a brand patch for the next vest I get to increase brand exposure since I'm already a walking advertisement everywhere I go. I get all kinds of different reactions. Lol
Thanks! And while we are at it, my avatar is not me. I am not the former President Of The United States. :)
 
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One of the things that has helped me be somewhat successful in this industry (in my opinion of course) is this forum. I can't know what I don't know, but I will say this and I mean it. There is enough brain power in this forum to colonize a planet. It really amazes me sometimes.

For years I would read the blogs but never took part in a domainers forum. Since I joined, it has made what I have done for years so much better and more fun. Before joining, noone in my circles really understood what the heck I was doing.
 
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One of the things that has helped me be somewhat successful in this industry (in my opinion of course) is this forum. I can't know what I don't know, but I will say this and I mean it. There is enough brain power in this forum to colonize a planet. It really amazes me sometimes.

For years I would read the blogs but never took part in a domainers forum. Since I joined, it has made what I have done for years so much better and more fun. Before joining, noone in my circles really understood what the heck I was doing.
"Brain power to colonize a planet" - this is the quote of the day! :xf.grin:
 
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So it's not symbolics but nordu ... ahh there they go re-writing history again!

Subscribed.
And a ".Net" to boot. This resonates as we realize .com was not the first. Just like nTLDs are not the first either. The tug of war between all the TLDs can be very amusing sometimes. The best exposure and presentation wins in the end. let's see how they all broadcast that and inject it into consumers reading and watching habits moving forward.

I think it may benefit everyone to check out a bunch of the ad campaigns they all ran to see which one faired the best and compare it with the stats on which registrations faired the best. That should give us a great idea on what campaign strategy would be an asset to reselling nTLDs, by applying a variation of the same type strategy in todays markets.

That might be interesting.
 
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I find @Eric Lyon friendly, responsive, and very helpful. Thanks for all your hard work, Eric.
 
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Hi Eric,

You and Amanda are awesome! You are genuinely wonderful people, online and in person! Thank you for all you do!!!!!
 
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Added note: Just to clear the air from a misconception I get asked about a lot at events/conferences and via email (are you a biker?), I want to give you a little back history.

While I did own a Honda rebel motorcycle and I do wear a leather vest, I have never been a member of a (MC) motorcycle club.

I've always been a nomad, traveling cross-country on adventures. I adopted my first vest in 2002/2003 driving tractor trailers (18 wheelers) coast to coast. Not everyone that wears a vest is part of an MC.

I've owned several vests since then and it's about time for a new one. I mainly wear it when I travel and show off pins from different places I've been with my wife these days.

I think I might design a brand patch for the next vest I get to increase brand exposure since I'm already a walking advertisement everywhere I go. I get all kinds of different reactions. Lol

So you're a biker too!
Man, you are a talking, walking Swiss Knife!

It always makes me wonder, whenever I ask my doubts through live chat I expect some random tech support guy to answer my queries but then I see @Eric Lyon on the other side and I think damn this guy is handling the support too besides already doing 100 other things. Kudos to you!
(y)(y)
 
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Yep I 100 percent agree with you @Eric Lyon regards new extensions.
 
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Thanks to @Eric Lyon and the NP team for all the good years !
 
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